Train Robbery

Situation puzzles (sometimes called lateral thinking puzzles) are ones where you need to ask lots of yes or no questions to figure out what happened in the situation. These are good puzzles for groups where one person knows the puzzle and answers the questions.

Tom was helping his father out at the printer's shop when his uncle Max ran in to tell them about the train robbery.

"It was Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch! They murdered Mr. Simpson! "

Tom's father was puzzled. Butch Cassidy was the Robin Hood of the area. He had never killed anyone. He and Tom went to the sheriff's office to collect some evidence for the newspaper.

"There were two witnesses. Ms. Greene was sitting next to him on the train. Right before Mr. Simpson was shot, she heard him say 'Butch'. The second witness was Lester Strong. It appears that Mr. Simpson pulled down Butch's handkerchief. Lester was able to identify him because of his days working at the saloon."

Tom decided to put his great brain to work. That night, he spent his time thinking of names that sound like Butch. His theory was that Ms. Greene had heard a name that sounded like Butch, and with Lester Strong yelling 'Butch Cassidy', she had decided that that was it. All he could come up with was Hutch.

The next morning, the sheriff told them that a total of about six thousand dollars was stolen from Mr. Simpson's money belt.

"If only we could trace those bills!" Tom muttered.

"Well, we do know that they were Kansas banknotes. But does anyone have an idea of who could have stolen the money and killed Mr. Simpson?" Tom's father said.

Tom remembered his theory. "Yes! Is there anyone by the name of Hutch nearby?" Tom told them his theory. Rewarding it was too, for there was one gambler who was now at the top of their suspect list. Hutch Pfifer.

The sheriff traced Hutch for the next few days. In fact, Hutch (the usually broke gambler) had bought his girl, Rose, an expensive dress, and lost two hundred dollars at the saloon, both in Kansas banknotes!

Tom had also realized that if it wasn't Butch Cassidy and the Wild Bunch, then there were other accomplices as well. The sheriff asked the bank to monitor Kansas banknotes. The very next day, Lester Strong turned in seven hundred dollars in Kansas banknotes.

Now the only dilemma was, how would Tom, his father, and the Sheriff prove that it wasn't Butch Cassidy?

The next day, the sheriff got some news from a nearby town. Several people, including the mayor, had met Butch on the same day as the robbery. The problem now was how to prove it was Hutch and Lester.

Tom had it all figured out. He asked the sheriff to get Mr. Simpson's mail from the hotel. Hutch and Lester were successfully put in jail. How did Tom do it?